(See article: Christopher Hitchens and Unitarian minister Marilyn Sewell interview. …I belong to what is a significant minority of human beings: Those who are—as Pascal puts it in his Pensées, —“so made that they cannot believe.” ; …there must be respect for those who simply can’t bring themselves to find meaning in phrases like “the […]
Read MoreThe title of this poem, Aubade is interesting — the word aubade refers to (1.) a song at dawn (serenade …is at evening); or perhaps the meaning is (2.) a poem or song of or about lovers separating at dawn. Either way, it’s a compelling juxtaposition, given the title. And spelling out an obvious raison […]
Read MoreChristopher Hithcens debating Dinesh Dsouza; …debunks Christian Miracles…. ridicules Biblical claims. It’s immoral to lie to children. It’s not moral to lie to ignorant, uneducated people and tell them that if they will only believe in nonsense that they can be saved. It’s immoral! The totalitarian concept of the afterlife. …not until Jesus, meek and […]
Read MoreWarning from title page: Don’t be a fool! Close this book at once! It is nothing but foma! [ 118 ] – – – – Verse 1: All of the true things that I am about to tell you are shameless lies. [ 4 ] – – – – Verses 2-4 (?): In the beginning, […]
Read MoreExodus 35:2 kill sabath day violators Deut 21:18-21 kill disobedient teenagers Lefiticus 20:13 death to homosexuals Deut 22:13-21 kill non-virgins who marry
Read Morewhat we have to be talking about is …transcendence, how do we, as a civilization and a culture, retain what is of value and of beauty and of instruction in the contributions gifted to us by the past from the years, decades, centuries of faith, while discarding the superstition the theocracy the censorship the torture […]
Read More“Why do you write to me ‘God should punish the English’? i have no close connection to either one or the other. I see only with deep regret that God punishes so many of His children for their numerous stupidities, for which only He Himself can be held responsible; in my opinion, only His nonexistence […]
Read MoreAs to gods, they have been, I find, countless, but even the names of most of them lie in the deep compost which is known as civilization, and the memories of few of them are green. There does not seem to be a good reason for holding that some of them are false and some […]
Read More— Carl Van Doren, 1885 – 1950 (from “Why I Am an Unbeliever”) . . .The very terms that I am forced to use put me at the outset in a trying position. Belief, being first in the field, naturally took a positive term for itself and gave a negative term to unbelief. As an […]
Read MoreBelief in demons was widespread in the ancient world. They were thought of as natural rather than supernatural beings. Socrates described his philosophical inspiration as the work of a personal benign demon. Augustine believed that witches were the offspring of …demons having unlawful sexual congress with women. In the Middle Ages, nearly everyone believed in […]
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